Pond Springs Elementary Fall Festival

Today was the annual Fall Festival put on by the Pond Springs Elementary PTA. Since Grandma has been the much-loved office lady at Pond Springs for about a dozen years now, the kids and I always go to support her and her school by participating in all the fun activities they have set up. Today was no exception.

However, there was a slight glitch in the plans this time. Our family was among four that were assigned to clean our ward meetinghouse today. It turned out that Chris had to be in Tulsa for a school competition, and since re-scheduling our cleaning assignment by switching with another family was really not quite feasible (after all, next weekend is our anniversary and Chris' semester really will only be getting busier from here on out...not to mention the holiday season is fast approaching), I decided I'd better just go and represent my family this weekend. I had a feeling that I would be pretty useless if I had to drag the kids along, so Grandma graciously offered to babysit at 9 a.m. so that I could get to the church early and get the cleaning out of the way before we'd missed too much of the school carnival. Thank you, Mom, and thank you for everything else you did while I was gone. You folded my laundry, you fed the kids and got them dressed and ready to go, and you cleaned up around my kitchen. Who knows what else you did... Thank you!

The Fall Festival this year was just as great as it always has been. The big difference was that Ashley came along this time. We missed going last year because we were out of town, so this year was actually Ashley's first time to go. She must have been having a great time, because she wanted to go everywhere and she wanted to see and do everything, and she wanted to do this ALL BY HERSELF. She is Little Miss Independent, that's for sure. And that's putting it quite nicely. It was a challenge to keep her from running off. Anyway, both Ashley and Zachary loved playing the games and taking part in the fun activities.


Here is Ashley at the ever-popular Lollipop Grab. There's nothing like starting the day off by giving candy to a baby.


Way to show some school spirit, Mom! We always enjoy the fun carnival food in the school cafeteria.



I love the expression on Zachary's face in this next picture. Don't worry, Zachary, that horse is going nowhere.



Which came first: the chicken or the egg? The object of this "Egg Toss" game was to throw the stuffed chickens and try to land them back into the egg. Apparently, somebody is NOT smarter than a 5th grader!



The Duck Pond is always a favorite with the kids. But why is it that they always want to run off with the ducks?





The kids got to go up into this fire truck and take a look around. One of the firefighters let Zachary try on some protective gear and see what other equipment is transported on the truck. He then asked Zachary if he had any questions. All Zachary wanted to know was when he could have a ride. I love how little kids are never too embarrassed to come straight out and ask for what they really want.





One petting zoo plus a dozen or so kids equals CHAOS! I could have gotten some great footage of the kids holding rabbits, feeding goats, or chasing chickens, but I wanted to make sure that no animals were harmed in the process. At one point, I saw Zachary trying to lift this gigantic rabbit, practically by its neck, before the poor thing wriggled itself free and hopped away. Another adult carefully helped him hold one of the smaller bunnies.



I thought this was a sweet picture of the 3 bunnies guarding the baby chick. Either that, or they were all ganging up on it and planning to have it for lunch.



Ashley was so funny when she interacted with the animals. She'd get just BARELY close enough to touch one, but as soon as she made contact, she'd run away as fast as she could, squealing with delight. Here she is, not looking QUITE as happy. I think she had her mind set on going someplace at the time.



It doesn't look like it in the picture, but I swear this goose was almost as big as Zachary!



Isn't this baby goat just adorable?



Awwwww....



Ashley enjoyed the Moonwalk for about 5 seconds before I had to rescue her.




Help! I've fallen and I can't get up!



Our last stop of the day was at the Dino Dig, because, after all, kids love playing in the dirt, don't they?




I think the problem was that Ashley wanted to play in the REAL dirt...in the playground on the opposite side of the parking lot. This is what I believe led to Tantrum #17 (I didn't keep track. It could have been #41.) It was officially naptime at that point, so it was time to call it quits.

Thank you, Grandma, for another fun-filled Fall Festival. You are a real trooper to put yourself through all that for our benefit. You really are Super Grandma!